Daguerreotype Vintage Photo Effect in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, we’ll create Daguerreotype vintage photo effect in Affinity Photo. This effect is derived from Daguerreotype photography. This type of photography was created by and named after Louis Daguerre in 1839 in Paris. Daguerreotype photography was the first commercial photographic process of the 19th century. This process created highly detailed images without using a negative. Instead, the images were placed on a silver-plated copper plate. The plate was polished and cleaned until it resembled a mirror. After that, the plate was sensitized with iodine in a box until the plate had a yellow look to it. Then, it was moved to the camera. An image appeared on the plate once the plate was exposed to light and developed over hot mercury.

Before you start, go to the following links to download the images used in this tutorial.

• Man on horse
• Grungy background
• Scratches texture

Step 1

First go to File > Open and select the picture of the man on the horse.

Step 2

Second, go to the Transform Panel and click the Lock Aspect Ratio. Then, select the picture. Grab the Move Tool and resize the picture the way you see it on the screen. Make sure you unlock the picture in the Layers Panel first.

Step 3

Go to File > Open and select the vintage background and the scratches texture images.

Step 4

Next, copy the two texture pictures and paste them onto the document with the man on the horse. Make sure the scratches texture is at the top.

Step 5

In the Layer Panel, turn the two texture layers off. Click the picture of the man on the horse. Then, click the Adjustments icon and select the Black and White adjustment.

Step 6

Turn the vintage background layer on. Resize the image the way you see it on the screen.

Step 7

In the Layers Panel, change the Blend Mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Step 8

With the layer still selected, press CTRL + J to duplicate the layer. Or right click on the layer and select Duplicate. Set the Blend Mode of this to Multiply.

Step 9

After that, click the Mask Layer icon in the Layers Panel. Make sure the mask is inside of the duplicated layer.

Step 10

Grab the Paintbrush Tool from the Tools Panel. Next, go to the Brushes Panel. Go to the Basic brushes and select the 256 px Round Light Brush. In the Context Toolbar, set the Flow to 25 percent and the Hardness to 0 percent. Make sure the mask is selected in the Layers Panel. In the Swatches Panel, make sure the black color is active. Then, take the brush and click a few times on the man’s face to reveal it.

Step 11

Now, turn the scratches layer on in the Layers Panel. Change the Blend Mode of this layer to Screen. Then, lower the Opacity of this layer to about 40 percent.

Step 12

In the Layers Panel, click the Adjustments icon and select the Recolor adjustment. I set the Hue to 37.7 degrees. Then, lower the Saturation. I set it to 45 percent. Also, I lowered the Opacity of the recolor adjustment (this is optional).

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! You’ve created a Daguerreotype vintage photo effect in Affinity Photo. For more Affinity photo tutorials, check out this tutorial on how to create a wet glass effect.